The Charities Act is a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

statute A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

which provides for the registration of charities, the administration of charities and their affairs, the regulation of charities and institutions of a public character, the regulation of fund-raising activities carried on in connection with charities and other institutions and the conduct of fund-raising appeals, and for purposes connected therewith. The Act, which was passed on 1 January 1995, empowers the

Commissioner of Charities A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

and Charity Council in overseeing the management and regulation of non-profits on the island.

Overview

The Charities Act outlines the rules on governance of non-profits such as: *Registration *Deregistration *Submission of accounts, reports, and other returns *Fund-raising Apart from overseeing the functions of charities in Singapore, under Section 27 of the Charities Act, those convicted of offences involving dishonesty or deception are automatically disqualified from being a governing board member, key officer or trustee.

Uses of the Act

Corruption in Singapore Corruption in Singapore is generally perceived as one of the lowest in the world. Cases are mostly handled by the Singapore Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), a government agency in Singapore that investigates and prosecutes corrupti ...

particularly in non-profits are generally low. However, during the national crackdown in 2007, seven religious groups such as

Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery The Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery (also the ''Bright Hill Pujue Chan Monastery'') (), is a Buddhist temple and monastery in Bishan, Singapore. Built by Zhuan Dao in the early 20th century to propagate Buddhism and to provide lodging ...

and

Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple () is a traditional Chinese temple situated at 178 Waterloo Street in Singapore. The temple is of significance to the Buddhist community among Chinese Singaporeans, and is believed to bring worshippers good luck a ...

were ordered by the Commissioner of Charities (COC) to open their books to auditors. On 31 May 2010, the Office of the COC and the

Commercial Affairs Department The Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) is a staff department of the Singapore Police Force (SPF). The department was first established in 1984 as the Commercial Crime Department (CCD), it is the white-collar crimes unit of the SPF. History The d ...

(CAD) of the

Singapore Police Force The Singapore Police Force (SPF) is the national and principal law enforcement agency responsible for the prevention of crime and law enforcement in the Republic of Singapore. It is the country's lead agency against organised crime; human, wea ...

announced that 17 individuals linked to the

City Harvest Church City Harvest Church () or CHC is a pentecostal megachurch located within the Yunnan subzone of Jurong West planning area, Singapore. Founded in 1989 by Kong Hee, the church officially bases its values on Charismatic and Pentecostal teachings, ...

, including church founder Pastor

Kong Hee Kong Hee (; born 23 August 1964) is the founder and senior pastor of City Harvest Church. He was convicted in 2015 of being involved in the City Harvest Church Criminal Breach of Trust Case, Singapore's biggest case in misuse of charitable fu ...

and his deputy, Pastor Tan Ye Peng, were under investigation after complaints alleging the misuse of church funds. In the ongoing investigations and court lawsuits that took several years, six accused were found guilty of all criminal breach of trust charges pertaining to 409 read with section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. Falsification of Accounts under section 477A of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

External links

Charities Act

References

{{Law of Singapore 1994 in law 1994 in Singapore Singaporean legislation